Point of View

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Point of View: The Italians Are Coming!

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Bologna

Well, technically they’re already here. Let me back up a bit. I’ve been working (and writing) madly over the last three weeks. I had big plans to finish three or four writing projects before June 15th, when our Italian friends, Marco and Fabry, were due to arrive. I wanted to put The Great North to bed, complete my Oberon 3rd draft, extend The Boy in the Band, write the next three chapters of Marionettes in the Mist with Angel, and put together enough chapters of River City to get me through mid July. In the end, I finished The Great … Read more

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Point of View: Pride and Prejudice

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Pulse

This morning, after the most deadly shooting in US history which also happened at a gay nightclub on Latino night, has me all tied up in knots. Just a year ago, we finally won the right to marry all across this vast nation. I felt such a sense of pride and accomplishment on that day. It’s something that I and many others gave years – decades of our lives, even – to bring about. And on that day I felt different. Accepted. Finally, as never before, a first class citizen in my own country. Mark and I have started holding … Read more

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Point of View: Reaching the Ending

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Writer's Brain - Scott

I have writer’s brain. I have just gone full-tilt for about a month to write a new novella for a forthcoming anthology. The story is titled “The Great North”, and it’s a post-apocalyptic tale based on a Welsh legend. Some of you may remember how it started out from one of my earlier columns – the story really wanted to be “The Autumn Lands” all over again, complete with blond stranger arriving in town on a wagon train. But the story and I had a big fight, and I won, and I steered it bodily onto a new course. Note … Read more

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Point of View: It’s the Same Story, Dammit.

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OK, so I’m knee-deep into a new project called “The Great North” (I know, I know, but this one had a deadline). It’s a post-apocalyptic retelling of a legend, and it’s unlike anything that I have done so far. Or so I thought. So I’m writing along, with my loose outline in a spreadsheet at my side to track all the stuff writers have to track when they write, and my latest crush – mint milanos – at my side. It’s new. it’s fresh. And best of all, it’s working. And then I start to notice things. My first protagonist … Read more

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Point of View: Crunch Time

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Crunch Time

Too many things to get done, and not enough time to do them. Every writer runs into this problem eventually, assuming that they stick with their craft long enough. You see, the average writer whose name is not Stephen King or Piers Anthony works at least one other job to support their habit – in my case it’s one and a half. Or maybe one and a half, and a half. My husband Mark and I run a web design and directory business, which consumes upwards of 70 hours a week. We’re also part of an Italian study group, of … Read more

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Point of View: Running a Successful Contest

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Scott

Hey all, We’re closing out the Queer Sci Fi Flash Fiction contest, and we’re about to get to the fun part – reading all the great entries that were submitted by y’all. We have 166 in all, from a great variety of writers and covering the LGBTIQA spectrum and the full gamut of speculative fiction themes. Well, I assume they do. You see, I haven’t actually read any of them yet. I am very careful not to do so before we start the judging, as I am compiling the file. We judge these stories blind – without knowing the author … Read more

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Point of View: The Balance

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Scott sword

You can write whatever you want. No, seriously. You are a writer. If you want to write about the fine mesh of belly button lint, or wax eloquent in a poem about how sunlight glints off the dewdrops on a dandelion in the early morning, or even share your deepest, darkest sexual fantasy, you can do it. That doesn’t mean it’s going to sell. I’m preparing to write another novella – yes, I know, but I swear I have a couple novels in the pipeline too! This one is for a particular anthology I have my eye on for a … Read more

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Point of View: Writing Who You Know

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reflection - Scott

There’s an age-old adage in the writing biz: “Write what you know.” This advice is suspect for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it’s difficult to apply as a science fiction/fantasy author. Tolkien didn’t “know” Middle Earth, not in the personal sense. And Anne McCaffrey probably never actually made it to Pern (though it would be really cool if she had). But the core sentiment of this adage is good – you need to do the research and get your details right. What about our characters, though? As an author, I draw on people I know … Read more

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Point of View: Here We Go Again

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Scott

I am riding the crazy train again. In just two more days, I have not one but two new stories coming out – “Through the Veil” in the anthology “Myths Untold – Faery” and my story “Repetition” in the spring “MCB Quarterly”. So I am no longer an author – I am now J. Scott Coatsworth, master promoter of the works of the obscure author of the same name. Promotion is a totally different skill set from writing. As an author, we can hide away in our writer caves and forget to shower, burrowing down the rabbit hole after our … Read more

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Point of View: A Down Day

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Scott Down Day

Sometimes you wake up feeling fresh and alive, newly attuned to the vibrations of the glorious universe, and ready to tackle the day and accomplish great things. This is not one of those days. Work is slow this month. I was harassed on Facebook by someone who took offense when I told them not to call me at 3 in the morning, at a phone number I had never given them. And life in general just seems a bit off the rails at the moment. I’ll get through it – I have a stubbornly optimistic personality. Throw me in a … Read more